桂影空階 · Osmanthus Shadow on Empty Steps (2026)

Theme: moonlit longing (round 7) Lead instrument: guzheng

A late-autumn temple courtyard holds this song: osmanthus shadows lie across empty stone steps, a distant bell crosses the mountain, and the guzheng line carries the small sound of falling blossoms. The longing stays narrow: one person under the moon, trying to send one branch of osmanthus across the passes.

Style: a literary Chinese 古風 vocal song, pentatonic-influenced, with guzheng in front, xiao breath tones behind it, and a restrained female silk-and-ink vocal line.

Lyrics

[引子] 桂影落空階疏鐘度遠山一庭秋露白人隔月同寒

[主歌一] 古寺夜初靜銀河入殿簷簾低花自墜香冷不成眠去年攜手處曾約桂花前今宵唯玉佩清響在衣邊

[副歌] 月照千山外相思渡幾關欲寄一枝桂風露濕雲箋君若臨秋水應知此夜圓我守空階影花落一聲先

[主歌二] 水漏催三鼓寒螢度石闌殘茶凝碧盞孤燭照青衫欲問南歸雁雁影過遙天不將人間語只帶月光還

[橋段] 半扉開又掩霜氣滿香奩舊詩藏袖底字字近君顏若得清光渡隨君到夢邊

[副歌/終章] 月照千山外相思渡幾關欲寄一枝桂風露濕雲箋君若逢秋水莫忘舊時緣我守空階影花落到明年

[尾聲] 鐘盡山更寂香微月未闌桂花無寄處一夜滿空階

Lyrics

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